Interpreting a Tarot Reading

Skillful interpretation of a Tarot reading is a technical, artistic and inspirational feat, built
on the meanings of the cards refracted through the prism of the spread and enhanced by some of the more advanced techniques
covered here.

Spreads and Meanings

The Tarot is normally used to provide a reading in which a particular question is explored or the
questioner's life in general is considered. Each card in the Tarot pack has a basic set of meanings and associations attached to it,
but interpreting cards according to these attributions alone would be an unsatisfying and one-dimensional exercise. In order to
provide a framework that allows a greater richness of meaning, the reader employs spreads: layouts of
cards in which the position of a card in the spread modifies the interpretation of the card.

For example, the Nine of Cups is a card of contentment and fulfilling relationships. If this card appears in a spread in a position
indicating the future, then it suggests that a time of well-being and fulfillment is on the way. If it appears in a position that
shows current difficulties, then it warns that complacency, taking things for granted or stagnation are problems that the questioner
should avoid.

Reversed Meanings

As well as modifying the interpretation of a card according to its position in a spread, there are a number of further refinements
that can be employed to adjust a card's meaning. One of the most common, and arguably the least useful, is that of reversed meanings.
With this method, the cards are kept or shuffled so that they may appear either upright or reversed (upside down) in a spread. When
a card is reversed, the meaning is modified, usually either tempered or reversed.

Fortune

Fortune (Reversed)

As an example, the Wheel of Fortune appearing in an upright position would indicate the felicitous intervention of Fate through a
lucky break or good fortune. A reversed position would be more suggestive of bad luck and a downturn in fortune. Many readers do not
use the system of reversed meanings at all, largely because it is a rather clumsy and inelegant mechanism, and there are better ways
to refine the interpretation of a card.

Synthesis and Majorities

All but the simplest spreads contain positions that can be considered together for a richer interpretation. Spreads like the Celtic
Cross are arranged so that cards in certain locations explicate and refine the meanings of cards in related positions. For example,
the Covering and Questioner positions are closely related, as are the Root and Past positions and the three positions dealing with
future influences. The House and Inside positions show the external and internal influences on the matter in hand, in an analogous
way to the Covering and Crossing showing aiding and opposing influences. There are many ways, some obvious and some subtle, in which
the positions in a spread work with each other, and this synthesis of cards is a very powerful way of bringing a reading together as
a whole.

Majorities are a way of getting an overall sense of a reading and are another prism through which the interpretation of individual
cards may be refracted. In most readings there will be a dominant suit of the Minor Arcana, and this
is termed the Primary Majority. The attributions of the suit involved indicate the tenor of the reading. For example, Wands or
Pentacles might suggest that the reading largely concerns objective events or objects respectively, and Swords or Cups could indicate
a focus on subjective thoughts or feelings respectively.

The Secondary Majority is the next most prevalent suit in a reading, and this can impart a subordinate, weaker influence. The
compatibility or otherwise of the suits in the Primary and Secondary Majorities (as outlined in the section on dignities, below) can
give further clues to the dynamics of the forces at work within a reading.

The other significant majority that readers look out for is the proportion of Major Arcana to Minor
Arcana cards. An important period with long-term consequences is suggested by a relatively large number of Major cards. If the cards
are mostly Minor, then a less critical time is indicated in which events are less likely to have lasting significance.

Dignities, Resonance and Dissonance

Almost all spreads have positions that explicate other positions, or positions that may be considered sequential or neighboring in
some meaningful sense. Some spreads even have multiple cards in each position for a deeper interpretation. In all of these cases,
cards are easily linked to others through physical or interpretational proximity, and the meanings of these linked cards can be
modified according to a system of dignities.

For this to work, certain suits of the Minor Arcana are considered as being beneficial and strengthening to each other (resonance),
whereas others are considered to be antagonistic and weakening to one another (dissonance), while the rest remain neutral to each
other. Resonant cards are well-dignified and dissonant ones ill-dignified. Suits of a similar nature strengthen; suits of opposite
nature weaken. Cups and Pentacles are neutral towards each other, and the remaining resonances and dissonances are as follows:

Suit

Resonances

Dissonance

Wands

Wands, Swords, Pentacles

Cups

Cups

Cups, Swords

Wands

Swords

Swords, Wands, Cups

Pentacles

Pentacles

Pentacles, Wands

Swords

Combinations

When a reading produces groups of identically numbered or titled cards - for example, three of the Eights or all of the Queens - then
those groups or combinations may be given further significance. For example, all four Aces appearing together in a reading would be
indicative of a momentous time of great energy and new beginnings in which the questioner must take care to make the most of
opportunities in a positive way.

If a "recycle reading" (in which any card may appear multiple times) is being performed then there are even more
possibilities. In this case, in addition to normal combinations, there may also be reflexive combinations that consist of
repetitions of individual cards, adding further emphasis to their spheres of influence and making connections between those
positions in which they appear. Our Free Tarot Readings offer you the option to try both recycle
and normal readings.

Timing

Getting a sense of the time scales involved in a reading is notoriously difficult. Some spreads have positions dealing with the
"recent" past, "near" future, "distant" past, "eventual" outcome and so on - all rather
nebulous phrases. As a rough guide, the "present" may be considered as a few weeks either side of the current date,
"near" and "recent" refer to a small number of weeks or months, and "eventual" and "distant"
may be months or years away. Some readers employ mechanical methods of suggesting timing, using formulae based on such things as the
suits involved in a reading, but these are usually less than helpful. Calendar Spreads are constructed around specific time scales,
and these may be employed when timing is important.

Certain cards, notably Judgment, can have an accelerating or decelerating effect on a reading. A well-dignified Eight of Wands,
for example, can bring an end to delays and move things quickly along, but if the Eight is ill-dignified it can slow matters down
and herald holdups and cancellations.

The greatest influences on the time scales involved, however, are the questioner's own actions. They may choose to go with the
trends shown by the cards and speed things up, or they may oppose them and slow things down or avoid the predicted consequences
altogether. The Tarot is actually an empowering rather than a fatalistic system - it helps to put a person in control of their
own destiny, as long as it is approached in an intelligent way.

Puzzling Readings

For those times when all or part of a reading seems hard to place, when the cards seem contradictory or just plain wrong, some
approaches are explored in Cardly Conundrums.